The Oakland A’s — in a major shift aimed at maintaining momentum toward a new ballpark just outside Santa Clara County — are seriously considering a handful of alternative Fremont sites that would see their proposed stadium move from the west side of Interstate 880 to within walking distance of a planned BART station on the southern fringes of the city.

Owner Lew Wolff confirmed reports of the team’s interest Wednesday, a decision spurred by two factors: a difficult economy that has tabled, for now, plans to also build a housing and retail “village” in the ballpark’s currently proposed site, as well as recent approval of Measure B, a sales tax increase that paves the way for a long-planned BART extension to San Jose.

Wolff had planned to use proceeds from those new homes and shops to fund stadium construction. But with that project on hold and the economy collapsing, questions are growing about how Wolff would finance a $400 million ballpark, especially without a public investment.

Wolff’s son, Keith, said the team will be using private cash upfront, as well as borrowing against future concessions revenue and money from a naming rights deal with Cisco Systems, while waiting for the real estate market to rebound.

“We just want to get our facility built as soon as we can,” said Wolff, a prominent California developer who also owns the San Jose Earthquakes. “This isn’t brain surgery. The more transportation near you, the better.”

A decision on where to place the ballpark, still expected in 2012, could come as soon as next month, but probably early next year, team and city officials said Wednesday.

One potential site, identified by Fremont Mayor Bob Wasserman and noted by Wolff, is a 36-acre parcel directly across the street from the planned Warm Springs BART station — between interstates 680 and 880, and scheduled to open in 2014.

A’s officials, however, say they are looking at a number of sites near the BART line and are meeting with the Bay Area Rapid Transit District’s board of directors today to begin hashing out how the two might work together if the A’s do, in fact, change course.

The team is not planning to ask BART for any money in that meeting, said Keith Wolff, who has been driving the proposal on behalf of his father.

“We’re not really looking for BART to pay for anything or contribute to anything,” he said. “BART has been very vocal over the past couple of years, telling us, ‘We’d love to have you at the BART station.’ “

BART spokesman Linton Johnson said it would make sense for fans to have a station so close to the stadium, a situation they currently have in Oakland.

“We’re happy to sit down with them,” said Johnson, who noted team officials approached the transit agency about a week ago. “We’ll see what they have to say.”

Talk of changing locations comes nearly two years after the A’s teamed up with Cisco to purchase a large site near Interstate 880 and Auto Mall Parkway, eventually announcing big plans to build a high-tech, 32,000-seat stadium that would be surrounded by shops and thousands of apartments and condominiums.

But as excited as some Fremont city officials and others have been about the project, it has been dogged by a series of complaints over the months, from the traffic and crowds it would generate, to its dearth of nearby parking and its distance from viable mass transit options.

Heeding those concerns, as well as exploring alternative sites, are part of a lengthy state-mandated review process required before the city can approve the proposed ballpark. Actually choosing a different site would probably lengthen that review process, with planners examining an entirely new set of pros and cons.

Keith Wolff said moving the site closer to the proposed BART line means it would also be closer to I-680, while still not far from I-880. That means, he said, traffic from fans who didn’t take mass transit from the East Bay and South Bay would probably be more dispersed.

Already, though, neighbors such as Fremont’s nearby NUMMI automobile plant, which could be just down the road, have some grumbles. Local streets would have to be improved to handle the crush of cars on game days, officials said.

“NUMMI operates with just-in-time delivery, so we worry when there is a potential for increased traffic congestion in the area,” said Lance Tomasu, a NUMMI spokesman. “We have expressed our concerns to city officials as well as the Oakland A’s and everyone seems interested in working together for a win-win solution.”

No matter which site the Wolffs eventually choose for a stadium, they still plan to move forward, economy permitting, with the rest of what may no longer be their “ballpark village.” A Santana Row-like development, ballpark or not, would still be “great, walkable pedestrian community,” Keith Wolff said.

Wasserman, Fremont’s mayor and a vocal stadium booster, said that even though he still prefers the original site, “My druthers might be one thing, but my bet might be another.”

He said the most important thing is seeing Cisco Field open for business, even if the housing promised with it materializes later, or even never.

Otto Warmbier was arrested in January 2016 at the end of a brief tourist visit to North Korea. He had been medically evacuated and was being treated at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center when he died at age 22.